RALEIGH, N.C. -- In the wake of a slew of disastrous hurricanes over the past few years, North Carolina now has joined Florida, New Jersey and New York in creating a statewide climate risk and resilience plan.
Will McDow, director of resilient landscapes for the Environmental Defense Fund, says the plan makes clear North Carolinians can expect worse floods, more thunderstorms, continued sea-level rise, and more extreme heat.
McDow says the plan, which has a chapter dedicated to environmental justice, outlines factors that make low-income and minority communities more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
"That chapter makes clear that not all of our communities are facing these challenges equally," he points out. "The communities that have the highest impact often have the least resources to deal with them, or to plan and prepare."
The report notes that existing inequities in environmental health exposures will continue to be exacerbated by climate change, and says older adults, children, low-income earners, communities of color and veterans are disproportionately harmed.
McDow says frontline communities tend to experience multiple environmental impacts of a changing climate at the same time.
"So a community might have increased air pollution, increased truck traffic, and also be in a low-lying area more likely to be flooded," he explains.
McDow says local governments need climate-resilience planning boards to help ensure communities are taking the right steps.
"Thinking through how we can increase local capacity for communities to understand their vulnerabilities, prepare workable solutions that work for their local area, and begin to implement those, is going to be a critical piece going forward."
In addition to funneling more money into climate science and resilience projects, the report's authors say North Carolina will need to boost its emergency management and public services, as those sectors will need more resources to address the impacts of future extreme weather events.
Reporting by North Carolina News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the Park Foundation.
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Environmental groups say more should be done to protect people's health from what they call toxic, radioactive sludge.
A court granted a temporary restraining order against Austin Master Services, a fracking waste-storage facility in Martin's Ferry, at the request of Ohio Attorney General David Yost.
Ohio has some of the least-restrictive rules on fracking waste, said Jill Hunkler, director of the local advocacy group Ohio Valley Allies. She said this makes communities "dumping grounds" for the byproducts of fracking, and residents are often left to educate themselves on the risks of living near fracking operations and waste sites.
"We can see firsthand how dangerous these facilities were and how poorly they were operating," she said, "and right within 500 feet of the drinking water supply for 5 million people, which is the Ohio River."
At a city council meeting, residents voiced their concerns about water-supply safety and ongoing health risks for neighboring communities.
In a legal complaint, the AG's office said the Martin's Ferry facility has exceeded the amount of waste it's permitted to store by thousands of tons.
Austin Master Services could not be reached for comment. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources maintains there's no evidence the waste has affected public health.
Hunkler said a judge ordered Austin Master Services to clean up the excess waste at a recent hearing, but the company said it didn't have the money to do so.
"It's just a very good example of the failure here to adequately regulate and enforce and protect the communities from this toxic industry," she added.
According to Food and Water Watch, fracking waste contains a mixture of heavy metals, brines, volatile organic compounds, carcinogens and naturally occurring radioactive contaminants. Yale University research has linked exposure to some of these substances to reproductive and developmental problems.
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Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, say they continue to live with health problems, including rashes, nosebleeds and respiratory issues following last year's massive train derailment and chemical spill.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 177 tons of solid waste of solid waste and 68 million gallons of water have been transported out of East Palestine for disposal.
Jess Conard, Appalachia director for the advocacy group Beyond Plastics, said vinyl chloride is a key ingredient in making PVC plastic. She argued the disaster highlighted the need to reduce production of industrial plastic and better regulate all stages of the plastic life cycle. She added residents still do not have the resources needed to stay safe.
"We are also in desperate need of residential indoor and outdoor air monitoring and air assessments for our homes," Conard contended. "There are residents within the past month that have reported detections of vinyl chloride outside of their home."
Norfolk Southern recently agreed to a $600 million settlement in an attempt to resolve a string of lawsuits involving thousands of people.
If it gets approval from all parties, it would resolve all class-action claims by people and businesses who were within a 20-mile radius of the derailment site, and personal injury claims within 10 miles. In a statement on the company's website, the company stressed the settlement does not constitute any admission of liability, wrongdoing or fault.
Conard pointed out the settlement will not prevent another train-related environmental disaster from happening. She noted the amount of money in the proposed settlement will hardly leave a dent in the pockets of a company whose profits topped $8 billion last year.
"If the court accepts this settlement, it sets the precedent that there is a corporate price tag for poisoning communities," Conard asserted. "The court must uphold justice for the people."
Congress has stalled on passage of legislation to boost regulations around inspections and fines for railroad companies violating safety standards. Earlier this month, the Biden administration passed a new rule requiring freight operators to have at least two people on board, in an attempt to increase safety.
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Chemical plants in West Virginia and other states will be required to curb emissions of toxic, cancer causing pollutants - such as ethylene oxide, chloroprene and other chemicals - under a new Environmental Protection Agency rule.
Hundreds of facilities, most located near low-income or communities of color, will also have to collect air pollution data and submit it to the EPA.
The data will also be made available to communities, which Jeremy Symons - a senior advisor with the Environmental Protection Network - said is an important tool for transparency and environmental justice.
"Not only will this action by EPA reduce these dangerous toxic air pollutants by 96%," said Symons, "but they're also going to require chemical plants to install fenceline air-pollution monitors."
Research has shown that long-term exposure to ethylene oxide and chloroprene can increase the risk of certain types of cancer, such as lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer and liver cancer.
Children are particularly at risk.
The Biden administration says the rule will slash more than 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution each year in affected regions.
Symons, a former EPA advisor, said the rules come after years of work by local community members and environmental organizations that have sounded the alarm on the impact of deadly air pollution.
"There's been especially high cancer rates in these communities," said Symons. "So it's really significant that EPA has taken action and gone into the communities that have not been protected as much as they should be in the past."
A handful of companies in West Virginia - including Chemours, Koppers and Altivia - will have to comply with the new rules.
Investigative reporting published in 2021 by Mountain State Spotlight and ProPublica have revealed how toxic chemical pollution has harmed the state's majority Black communities.
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